There are so many reasons to learn a foreign language, not least for the communicative potential and employability language skills can offer. Nonetheless, foreign language learning has been on a steady decline in British education in recent years. With the world more interconnected than ever before, there has arguably never been a better time to learn a foreign language. This short article aims to summarise some of the lesser-known benefits of language learning, highlighting just how much there is to be gained from learning a foreign language.
How to survive working from home
Due to the global SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, millions of working people around the world find themselves confronted with a new reality: working from home. For parents, or others living with young children, this transition has undoubtedly been an uphill battle which brings its own challenges. For others, used to their usual work space, the greatest problems…
Should I offset my carbon footprint?
Carbon offsetting has recently become much more popular than ever before, and with its new-found popularity it has also gained connotations of privileged Westerners (the people who pollute the most) buying their way out of feelings of guilt over polluting the atmosphere. Flight to New York? Plant a tree. Three litre Mercedes-Benz? Fund wind energy…
Why Plant Based?
Eating plants seems to be all the rage these days, from bearded hipsters choosing avocado toast over bacon sandwiches to middle aged women ditching sausage casseroles in favour of quinoa salads. The big question is, what on Earth is happening? What ever happened to good ol’ meat and two veg? Well, as a plant-munching sociologist…
The role of meat consumption in the social construction, performance and perception of masculinity/ies
This essay will explore the role of meat in the social construction and performance of hegemonic and alternative masculinities, how vegetarian and vegan men’s masculinity is constructed, and how it is perceived by others.
Generation Why?
Who are we, the ‘millennial’ generation? Well, pop that question into Google – a Millennial’s best friend – and the first answer you’ll get is probably: mɪˈlɛnɪəl noun plural noun: millennials a person reaching young adulthood in the early 21st century. “the industry brims with theories on what makes millennials tick” Hit it up in…
Why should I care about plastic?
The plastic polluting our oceans, cities and countryside and filling our landfill sites is a huge issue, as is the carbon footprint of so much plastic production.
A Critical Exploration of the Concept of ‘Human’
This essay aims to engage in a interdisciplinary exploration of the concept of the ‘human’ (and necessarily also with the ‘animal’), its history and construction, to deconstruct it, and to conclude that the social sciences need to reflexively engage with this concept in order to move beyond the anthropocentric paradigm
What Has Been the Legacy of Neoliberalism in Latin America?
From its European roots, neoliberalism arrived in Latin America in the late 1980s and early 1990s, with right-wing governments in Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela, Chile and Peru hoping to bring about revolutionary economic change by adopting the World Bank’s so-called ‘Washington Consensus’, a neoliberal formula of market-orientated policies
Is the Body Natural? Intersexuality and ‘Corrective’ Genital Surgery
Intersexuality, its social construction and its management are subjects increasingly present in contemporary research that intersect intriguingly with theories of embodiment, performativity (Judith Butler) and bio-power (Foucault).
The Millennial 